The 57-year-old, who spent 12 years at Bayern over two spells, has been an interested observer of his former club this season as they currently sit fourth in the Bundesliga and are 10 points adrift of leaders Borussia Dortmund after 13 games.The Bavarian giants' bids to make it seven successive Bundesliga titles this term is already looking a tall order with many critics pointing the finger at Kovac, who was appointed in the summer.However, Matthaus is adamant that Kovac is not to blame, but instead, it is the club's failure to replace the old guard with upcoming young talent which is the issue.He said:

They have the players who have been playing for the last six years like [Arjen] Robben, [Franck] Ribery, [Jerome] Boateng, [Thomas] Muller. Times change, football is going faster and faster and the young generation is coming more. The biggest mistake Bayern made before the season was that they didn't make the change."And now, step by step, they have to fight back. Bayern have very good young players and with Niko Kovac as the coach, he has to give the chance for the young players to play

On Kovac, Matthaus added:

He is a good coach. He is working very hard from morning until evening to make players better. If Bayern gives him the support, the president, the director, the fans, I am sure Bayern will have the same results with Kovac that they were having in the previous years with other coaches

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